New Delhi- Uber on Thursday refuted a report that claimed the big ride-sharing company was planning to exit the Indian market and had been in talks with potential buyers to sell its India business.
Bloomberg reported that the US-based company was considering selling the Indian business, but “suspended talks after tech startup valuations collapsed.”
In a statement shared with IANS, an Uber spokesperson said the company had never considered leaving India – not even for a minute – and that the report was “categorically untrue”.
“India is as important to Uber today as it was when we launched nine years ago. We serve passengers and drivers in more than 100 cities, hire Indian talent aggressively and plan for the next decade and beyond,” the company spokesperson said.
Uber competes with SoftBank-backed Ola in the country.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in April it would expand its product offering and team in India.
“We continue to expand product offerings for the Indian consumer. Be it automobiles, motorcycles or high capacity or rental vehicles, India has always been a very big part of the Uber journey,” he said at the Virtual i3 Summit hosted by Times Bridge.
Uber aims to expand its engineering talent in India to more than 1,000 people from the current 700, he said.
Last month, Uber India’s director of central operations, Nitish Bhushan, said that they are “still striving to make driving with Uber a viable and attractive option for drivers and that the recent fare hike will increase their income per trip directly”.
To take the frustration out of passengers and drivers, the company also shows drivers the trip destinations before they decide to accept the ride.
“Drivers at Uber’s advisory board meeting told us they would like more flexibility with payments. We are now showing drivers how to pay (cash or online) before the trip begins” , the company said.
To make cash or online decision irrelevant, the company has also introduced a daily payment process for drivers.
With these changes, the company said it is also raising its expectations for quality of service with drivers, particularly in areas such as cancellation and guaranteed AC rides. (IANS)
